Rough Days
by Lucid Dreamer
Summary: New chapter. Rogue comes to talk, the boys make plans. A little Rietro while I'm at it
1. Default Chapter

**__**

Rough Days

Chapter 1 - What It's Like To Be A Toad

Summary: A li'l bit of the World of Todd for all you fans, his thoughts and experiences. Kinda like a day in the life sort of thing.

Rating: R, for language and violence. I don't think I'm good enough to write NC-17 type gore, so lucky you.

A/N: OMG! I'm writing a fic that isn't the intentionally funny kind. Someone strike sense into me before I lose my mind. No romantic comedies? Oh my, what am I doing?

A/N #2: Yeah, yeah. I know I said I wouldn't write anything very soon, but these stories just came to me. Besides, I don't have to go out drinking **every** night, do I? Or, at least, I can always write during the daytime. And please review if you can, I'd like to hear any thoughts on my story/writing you might have.

__

Morons. I'm surrounded by morons.

No, not the Brotherhood. Me. Freddy. Pietro. Lance. And even Tabby, now. We're awesome, yo. It's all those preppy losers, dumbass jocks, fatheaded nerds and anyone else I've forgotten. Especially those X-Geeks. Hell, they've even got a nice little combo on the loser quotient. Summers and Grey, morons extraordinaire. Those two are probably closet sluts. Snobby clothes, brand name clothing, that high and mighty attitude about the misuse of powers when their friends (and themselves) do that shit all the time. Did you know that those idiots can barely even control their powers?

Oh yeah, Lance told me. Grey freaked out during track practice and almost skewered a few sprinters. The whore probably got told to hit the showers 'cause she wasn't good enough. As for Summers, he's an entirely different matter. He has no control of his powers whatsoever. Just rip those stupid glasses off his head and the guy's tears apart anything he's looking at. Now that's what you call, "If looks could kill."

There's the fuzz ball and the kitty cat. One keeps poofing around town even though he's supposed to know better and the other one, the high-strung valley girl brainiac, just passes through things whenever there's a scare. One of these days she's going to fall to the middle of the Earth and never come back.

Rogue. Fucking traitor, her powers are almost useless. Just a God damn, mutant vampire.

And then there's Evan. Pietro's "supposed" rival. I say "supposed", because the guy's the biggest moron you'll ever meet. Literally. He skips more class than we do; and let me tell you, that's a hell of a lot. He even gets the shittiest grades you've ever seen. Must be all that bleach he uses on his hair. It can't be good for the brain, **at all**. He's got the **worst** control on his powers too. The guy sneezes and you have to scramble for cover. At least Summers and Rogue (whatever her real name is) have an excuse: their shit don't turn off. I don't know why Pietro doesn't grab one of those spikes and stabs Daniels in that big, fat head of his. He ain't doing it out of kindness, I can tell ya that much.

"Mr. Tolensky, are you with us?" asked Mr. Ingleton, Todd's history teacher.

"Uhh, yeah yo." The young boy shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts away from the demoralizing thoughts of Bayville's _other_ mutants. "Sorry 'bout that, it's been a little hard to concentrate on anything lately."

"I'm sorry to hear that Todd, would you like me to write you a pass to see the nurse? Maybe she could excuse you and have your guardians pick you up."

"Oh, uhh… nah. I'm cool. It's alright."

In all honesty, Todd really had been having trouble concentrating lately, through no fault of his own, of course. Could he help it if every word out of every teacher's mouths bored him to no end? Of course, the Brotherhood having shitty holidays might have had a _little_ to do with it.

With no heat, no TV and nothing to do, they were left to stealing to keep themselves warm and fed. Moist turkeys, delicious roasts, mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, freshly baked breads, flavorful ribs that stick to your fingers, various kinds of pie. What was the point of having such sumptuous feasts when you have to resort to criminal activity to have them? The entire concept brought no contentment to the Brotherhood, even to Pietro, who could steal all the food they'd need without detection.

They would survive winter, however, defying the poverty that had befallen them. Because in the Brotherhood House, when you've lost your guardians and family members that never gave a shit about you, all you had were your friends. And in the Brotherhood House, your friends _are_ your family. The only family you need to care about, not some megalomaniac father bent on eradicating the human species, or a mother who fights against her own child, or a bastard step-father who beats you whether he's drunk or not.

__

Fuck it. We don't need that shit. We've just got to take care of each other, and our lives will fall right into place.

Maybe it would, maybe it wouldn't. But nothing would **ever** convince Lance, Pietro, Todd, Fred and Tabitha not to at least try. They didn't have an old bald man with an enormous trust fund to take care of their every want, but they didn't need one either. Not to give them a house. Not to give them training as mutants. And especially not to give them a family. Nah, they already had richer lives. And a hell of a lot more fun.

__

Yeah, yo. All you need to do is believe in faeries. Cover me with dust and watch me fly.

Today would be a good day. When Todd and his friends go home this afternoon, they would forget about school, unburden themselves with life and responsibility, and simply let go of themselves. When you're with the Brotherhood, you don't need to have a care in the world. Other than have fun. 'Cause what the fuck would you become when you didn't know how to have fun anymore? Just another god damn automaton, pounded into existence by laws and ideals made to govern the lives of others, creating a slave of the _free world._

What a fucking load.

Todd rushed from his seat at the sound of the bell. The teacher was frantically trying to get the students to write down the night's homework before leaving, but it was futile. Todd knew it, and so did his classmates. Any direction from a teacher after the end of class shall be considered null and void. _You snooze, you lose teach._ He chuckled to himself as he made his way to his locker, thinking of the embarrassment to teaching Bayville High's educators were. Not that they didn't have their moments, of course. There were a few teachers that were nice, cool and understanding, like Mr. Ingleton, Mrs. Applebee or Mr. McCoy, but he was long gone. It was widely known around school that Hank McCoy had turned out to be a mutant and terrorized the entire city one night when he lost control of himself.

He ran his hands through his dust colored hair in anticipation to rejoin his friends; but first, he needed to get some play materials he had left inside his locker. "Just need that Elastic Plastic, then we can get the hell out of here." (For those of you not familiar, it's like a mix between Play-Doh[or toothpaste] and a balloon. In essence, it's a balloon in a tube.) And he had plenty of it, especially the glow in the dark kind. "But first…" his speech drawled out to himself as he spotted none other than Mr. Wonderful, Scott Summers, walking along with his butt-buddy Paul.

__

You should watch out, Cyke, I heard they just waxed the floors.

Toad darted behind Scott and fell into step with the auburn haired teenager, bringing his foot out to hook around Scott's ankle as he took a step forward. Unfortunately for Mr. Summers, his body was already progressing forward, entire weight compressed unto the small point of his toes. On his rear foot. One forceful shove sideways and Scott was sent careening into his blonde friend. The two wound up in a tangled mess on the tiled floors, with the entire student body halted in their affairs just to laugh along at the two popular, but humiliated teens.

Scott readjusted his ruby quartz glasses before lifting his head from the ground and carefully scrutinizing the instigator of his embarrassment. "Toad," he seethed, causing the name to sound like something you would sweep under the carpet. "Don't you have anything better to do than cause trouble?"

Todd crossed his arms over his chest and tilted his head aside as he regarded the fallen teens. "As a matter of fact, Scooter, I do. Hope I didn't hurt your boyfriend, yo." He spun away from the dumbfounded pair and the murmuring crowd, who were left to gossip about Scott's possible homosexuality. He couldn't help but to grin to himself. 

__

Not bad for a minute's work, yo. Not to self: treat yourself to some ice cream when you get home, you deserve it. And Pietro too, he doesn't seem to be having a very nice day.

What would await the young boy when he reached his locker gave him no cause for celebration, oh no. In fact, before him stood one of the people he loathed most at Bayville High, Duncan Matthews, flanked by his cronies no less. Too bad he was human, which meant that he couldn't use his powers unless he wanted to expose himself to the whole school. Duncan, the big, stupid, rude, slow-witted jock was accompanied by two equally deficient friends. To be honest, Todd was stronger than the blonde boy, even if he did just look like a scrawny little freshman. Proportional strength of a toad and all that. And that fact was one of the particulars of just _why_ it would give him so much grief to fight back against Duncan and the rest of the jocks that liked to pick on him. Plus, the fact that he could never take a beating very well also played very heavily in not getting into fights with jocks. That's why it was good to have friends like his, who scared away most opposition and definitely kept the jocks away, because of their _bad boy_ image.

Friends, who didn't happen to be around at the moment. _Damn, yo._

"Hey guys, I guess we **do** get to play a game of Frogger today." Duncan joked, which was followed by a raucous sound as his fellow football players laughed beside him.

"Man, just leave me alone today, I don't got time for this yo." Todd tried to step aside, but Duncan just leaned back against his locker. "C'mon Matthews, I need to get into my locker."

The blonde football player just sneered, lurching forward to give Todd a rough shove in the chest. "Whatcha gonna do about it, _Stinky?_" He shoved Todd again, while his companions gave howls of laughter behind him. "Huh? You got a bar of soap in there Toddy?" Duncan gave the young boy another push, sending him into the row of lockers across the hall.

"You don't wanna be fucking doing that," Todd retaliated against (much) larger boy as he thrust his hands towards Duncan's chest, propelling the older boy back into the lockers, where his Letterman's Jacket caught its sleeve on a lock, causing a small tear in the leather.. "Just let me get the hell out of here, I don't have time for your shit."

"No way, Toadie. You're gonna pay for that one. And since you don't have the cash, I'm just gonna have to take it outta your hide."

Scott and Jean rushed towards the confrontation, cutting a path through the mob of students who had begun to gather at the prospect of a fight before school was completely over.

"There a problem here, guys?" Ahh, Summers. The goody two shoes who likes to be in everyone's business but his own.

"Duncan! What are you doing?" And Jean Grey who, despite her telepathic ability, didn't ever know when to _butt out_.

"The little twerp tore my jacket, so I'm gonna teach him a lesson for putting his grubby little hands on me."

Scott edged forward, extending his hands to place himself as a barrier between the radically different-sized teenagers. "Whoa there Matthews, hold on a minute. He's littler than you are, cut him a break." Scott Summers, always trying to act like the hero, even to people he didn't like. And to people who didn't like him back.

So, it wasn't a surprise when Todd denied the help. "Butt out yo, this is between me and the muscle head."

"You heard the little man." Within a few seconds, three extra football players had come around and pulled Scott aside, restraining him from further involvement. When he had been neutralized as a nuisance, one of the brown haired jocks broke off to restrain Jean, who had started to complain.

"Duncan! You can't fight on school grounds, you'll get suspended! And you're a **lot** bigger than Toad, what do you think everyone would think of you beating up a freshman?" At Duncan's shrug, Jean realized that it would be useless trying to appeal to his more reasonable nature. If he actually had one, that is. She wouldn't even be able to use a mental suggestion, knowing that the students would think it would be suspicious if Duncan Matthews ever found good sense and broke off a fight. That left Todd, who would have to play down his mutant powers, in the hands of an irate jock, and two others who might not comprehend the concept of fair play.

"Don't worry about it babe," The blonde athlete smirked at his redheaded girlfriend as he started to remove his jacket. As soon as he turned his eyes back on Todd, however, he was met with a surprise.

__

Eat this, you sorry little cunt.

"Fuck you, cock sucker." The gathered crowd let out a squeal of excitement as Todd's fist came into contact with a very unguarded nose. As he pulled his hand back, he could feel the warm, sticky blood dripping from his knuckles. Trying to squeeze in another hit before Duncan regained his senses, Todd sent his fist flying forward once more, but instead found a shoulder tackle ramming hard into his midsection. The students spread wide Duncan rammed Todd into the lockers, winding the young mutant, and cheered on as he gave Todd an uppercut to the chin. Momentarily fazed, Todd hadn't found the time to regroup before he was thrown across the hallway once again, but he recovered in time to feel Duncan's big left hand strike him in the cheek. And then the other cheek. And in the stomach. This fight was definitely **not** going how he planned.

In a move of desperation, Todd brought his leg up, shoving his knee into Matthews' groin. The move sent the blonde stumbling backwards, into the sea of fight mongers. As Toad went in to finish him off, two sets of hands grabbed his arms, halting further movement. _Oh great._ Duncan's friends had latched onto Toad, then begun to send vicious knees into his legs, stomach and back. Todd could only cry out at the blows, waiting until all three boys ganged up on him.

As Duncan haul himself to his feet, he cracked his knuckles at the nearly helpless mutant before him, preparing to send the first of many blows. Aimed right at Todd's face. "You're gonna get those yellow little teeth knocked out of your mouth punk. Consider it a favor."

Duncan tested out a few jabs and hooks, never really coming close to Todd's face. But the younger boy cringed, fearfully at each possible strike. And Duncan delighted in it. "Here's your knuckle sandwich _Toad_, I call it The Duncan Special." Scott and Jean both struggled, in attempt to help the outnumbered youth, but it was to no avail. Kitty and Rogue also watched as Todd readied himself for a relentless punishment, too far to even lend a hand.

Todd steeled his nerves and looked Duncan in the eyes, all traces of fear or anger awash from his face. Through his eyes, his newfound resolve, he simply relayed the message to Duncan: _You don't mean shit to me._

The X-Men saw it.

The students saw it.

The jocks saw it.

And finally, Duncan saw it.

Angered, Duncan pulled his arm back, shouting in pure rage as he sent his tightened fist forward, towards Todd's unyielding face. Duncan poured every ounce of his strength into the punch, intent on destroying the young boy's features, starting with his nose.

But inches before Todd's face, a hand clamped onto his wrist. The grip was so tight, inflexible, it stunned Duncan, and everyone else, to see who had stopped him.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

TBC


	2. Covered in Blood

__

Chapter 2 - Covered in Blood

Inches.

Mere inches from the start of bashing Tolensky's face in and Duncan found his hand averted in mid-strike. It should have been impossible, to stop something so fast, so precisely. _Should have,_ but it wasn't. 

Duncan struggled against the fingers, to no avail, then turned to whoever had foolishly decided to intervene. He stared, at first, in annoyance, and then surprise. "_Maximoff._" 

His voice conveyed so many emotions at once, surprise, wonder, and anger. Anger. The look that came unto Duncan's face strained, as he hurtled his elbow from his side, intended on a violent connection with Pietro's face. But it was not to be. The younger boy simply his hand, catching Duncan's elbow before he had allowed it to progress forward. He let the blonde see his icy blue eyes fill with anger before shoving the oversized body away from himself, sending Duncan sprawling as he tripped over his own feet.

Pietro swiftly turned to the jocks restraining Todd, glaring at them with hate filled eyes. He gritted his teeth as he spoke to them, the words slowly coming from his mouth, "Don't. Touch. _My_. **_Friend!_**"

He lunged forward, driving his knuckles fiercely into the throat of the boy on Todd's left. The teen let go, hands desperately clutching his throat as he struggled for air. A quick spin to the right and he propelled his foot against the other guy's knee, adding a speed enhanced thrust of power as he felt the joint snap backward under the pressure. The boy went down screaming, face smashing against the floor as Todd added a kick to the back of the jock's head. Within a few seconds, Bayville High's student contingent had watch Pietro take down two of the biggest, meanest jocks their school had to offer. All in all, they were impressed.

Duncan had, by now, picked himself off the floor and made a dash to spear his shoulder into Pietro's back. It might have made for a quick turn around in the fight, but unfortunately for him, he was trying to pull the maneuver on the fastest kid in the world. Someone who had reflexes unmatched by anyone on Earth. The boy just twirled, like a matador evading a bull and grabbed hold of the jock's jacket, sending him careening head first into the steel lockers. As Duncan slumped to his, Pietro him to lay back against the floor, then leapt forward, cracking his foot down on Duncan's chest. Using his mutant power to enhance his blows, he landed a blow to Duncan's ribs and smirked when he heard a muffled, but satisfying _crunch_. So he did it again and again, his smile growing wider at each turn. He had held back on his powers thus far, as to not arise suspicion, but he was still hitting more forcefully than most people could even dream of.

He dropped to his knees, straddling Duncan's chest as he focused his blows to Duncan's face. Have you ever seen what punches traveling at a (modest) hundred miles per hour could do to a face? Todd, Scott, Jean and everyone else were getting a first hand look. At the first blow, Pietro blew several of Duncan's teeth onto the ground. The second broke the young man's jaw from its hinge. From then, Pietro simply begun to expend his rage on Duncan Matthews' face. As Pietro cracked the bones underneath Matthews' face, he could feel the jock's skin tearing apart, blood spraying his arms, hands and face as Duncan choked. In a frantic attempt to stop the young boy atop him, Duncan lifted his arms to shield himself, but they were quickly ripped away. Pietro's first came down on a forearm, splitting the bone in two, the break causing an ugly protrusion against Duncan's jacket. He then took the boy's other arm and tugged, popping ligaments as he pulled the popular teen's shoulder out of his socket. Sabretooth would have been proud at the young mutant's ferocity, and perhaps, maybe even Wolverine might have shown regard in the child's utter viciousness, especially since it centered around protecting someone he called friend. Family.

The students had quieted at the unsettling display of tears and blood, but Pietro had yet to finish. His fists once again rained down on the once pleasant face of Bayville's star football player, taking a thick, slimy coating of the blood that flowed freely from Duncan's nose and mouth. Perhaps it was lucky the poor boy had passed out from the pain of it all. Horrified, everyone stood still as Pietro grabbed Duncan's head and proceeded to smash the back roughly against the tiles beneath them. Jean covered her mouth to keep from crying out at the display, but didn't dare interfere. And neither would Scott. Disturbing Pietro now might get them killed, and using their powers would expose them as mutants. So they just watched, as Pietro tried to crack open Duncan's skull.

Pietro began muttering in his frenzied state, each word followed by a violent collision where head met tile. "You," _thud._ "Mother," _thud._ "Fucker," _thud._ "Don't," _conk._ "Touch," _thud._ "My," _bang._ "Friends!" _crack._

An unsteady hand came forward, gently settling on Pietro's left shoulder. He didn't notice at first, mind too clouded by the haze which had enveloped his senses, but the soft, feminine voice broke through his flurry. "P-Pietro…?"

He whipped his head the sound of her voice, angry sapphire gaze focused on the girl, and braced his hands against Duncan's chest, as if readying to strike. She flinched visibly, but did not recoil from contact with the boy. He blinked at her, the girl's face and hair slowly coming into recognition. "Risty?" His breaths were long, but shallow, like they filled his lungs with nothing.

She forced a smile, wary of Pietro's current instability. "It's over Pietro, he isn't moving. You should stop or you might kill him."

Her words struck him, barreling down into his reason. His gaze flitted to Duncan, then to Risty, to Duncan again, and then back to Risty. He hadn't used his powers to really hurt anyone before, not even the X-Men. But for a moment, he had found a perverse amusement in putting Duncan's face into disarray. He sighed and nodded, deliberately, rising to his feet. Motioning for Todd to follow, he stepped towards the exit way, but not before allowing a soft, distressed smile to flit into Risty's direction. The kids in the hall cleared a path for the two mutants, keeping from Pietro's immediate vicinity. They made no hurry, Pietro unwilling to propel himself faster in his daze, passing by a few members of the X-men, including Kitty, Rogue and a very terrified Evan Daniels. All those times before, it would have been him. The simple loss of control and Pietro might have stopped fucking around and turned on Daniels, or anyone else for that matter. Kurt and the younger recruits were nowhere to be seen, but who's to say they didn't see anything.

Near the doorway, the Lance, Fred and Tabitha awaited them. "Uhh…. Hey." Lance stood before them, hands shoved into his pockets. The Blob simply gave the two a curt wave, his eyes traveling down to see how red Pietro's hands were.

"You coming home with us Speedy?" She asked. Her voice sounded kind, worried, very unlike the Boom Boom they had gotten to know.

__

I guess they saw everything. He regarded his new friend with a weary smile, and nodded. They could all see the pained look in his eyes, but said nothing, each knowing that the best thing for him, for all of them, would be to get away from the school as quickly as possible and head for home. A more friendly environment, to be sure.

The Brotherhood slowly climbed into Lance's Jeep. Todd, took the front passenger seat, leaving Fred, Tabby and Pietro in the back. With Tabitha to sit on Pietro's lap. This had become normal seating recently, the lone girl (nor Pietro) wanting to sit in Todd or Fred's (no room) lap. Neither had complained, finding the arrangement quite pleasant actually. But the day's recent events gave Tabby pause for concern. "Umm-" she hesitated in speaking her question, unknowing of how her silvery haired friend might respond.

"C'mon, we need to get home." Pietro smiled down to her, arms open. "Besides, I like getting to hold you." Tabby blushed faintly, then climbed into the back, taking her customary position on Pietro's lap. Smiling, she wrapped her arms around Pietro's neck as she relaxed against him, feeling their warm bodies press against each other. He closed his eyes and nuzzled against her chest; she didn't mind it, really, actually feeling needed, even if it was just to offer Pietro comfort. _Especially_ if it was to offer Pietro comfort. She didn't even care about her shirt as Pietro's hands came around her waist, hands covered in blood.

Scott and Jean came running into the parking lot, closely followed by the rest of their friends. Lance turned his key to start the engine, ignoring the calls of the (somewhat) redheaded pair. "Buzz off Shades."

"No, wait. We'd like to talk-," Jean tried to reason in futility.

"You ain't talking to him." The Brotherhood's leader shouted out.

Panting, Kitty tried her own tactics, knowing full well that the dark haired youth had a crush on her. "Please Lance."

"No." His look turned soft after his words. "Look. If he lets me, I'll tell you about it tonight." He begun to drive off, wheels chirping as he hammered down the accelerator. Still, he could hear Kitty's voice through the rumble of his engine, _Not on the phone!_

"Wow man." Evan had managed to utter his first words after seeing nearly pulverize Duncan.

Kurt walked next to him, laying a three fingered hand on Evan's shoulder. "I agree, mein freund." (my friend)

Scott kicked the air before him in exasperation, "Someone's _got_ to talk to Maximoff. There's no telling what kind of damage he's going to do next time something happens. And what if someone sues him? You know they don't have any money Jean."

"We _should_ be more careful with him in the future Scott, but I don't think we're going to have worry about anything like that happening again. He's afraid," Jean said. For once, it was one of the few times she could even sense a glimmer of though or emotion from Pietro. She had even tried before, it he had seemed to establish some way of blocking telepathic abilities.

"Why wouldn't he? What if all the jocks decide to ambush him?"

"Oh my God, you don't like, think they'd do that do you?

"The guys that go to **our** school? No doubt."

"That's not what I mean! Pietro's afraid of what he did, Kitty. Think back, Scott. He's always taken everything as a game, and never tried to seriously hurt any of us. I say he's probably more dismayed at what he did than anybody else."

"But somebody still might sue him. We should talk to him, try to convince the guy that we could make this go away, or at least protect him. All of them. This is just the chance we need to get them to join our side."

"**What?!**" shrieked Kurt, Evan and Kitty.

"Scott, I like, don't believe you."

"How could you try to take advantage of them like that?"

"That's bull man."

"You can say zat again."

Summers held out his hands, trying to fend off his angering friends, "Whoa, whoa. I didn't mean it that way. I just thought he might want to give us a chance, then the Professor might use some of his influence to make this go away. Besides, you know what kind of a dump they live in. They might just jump at the chance."

__

Smaaack!

Everyone turned to Rogue, whose gloved hand had left a reddening mark on Scott's cheek. He was stunned, to say the least.

"You so full of it Scott. Do you honestly think that you could try and coerce him, any of them, the same way things happened to me? I can't believe how conceited you are to think you could even break them up. Just because they don't have someone with an endless supply of money doesn't mean they can't have decent lives. At least they have each other's complete support. Which is more than I can say for us."

She took another moment to make the effort clear, "I'll talk to them. At least none of them hate me." _I hope,_ she sighed.

In a huff, Rogue turned away from her group of friends, leaving them to stare at her open-mouthed. As she stomped away, the X-Men broke off, in different directions, proof that the young mutants weren't as quite together friend-wise as their enemies were. The Brotherhood might have been poor money-wise, but in spirit they were not.

"Hey girlfriend," Risty bumped her hip against Rogue's as she kept pace with her gothic friend.

Rogue turned, seeing the purple haired girl. "Oh, hi Risty."

"What's the rush?"

"Oh, ahh, nothing. Just had a little fight with my friends."

The "British" girl clutched her hands against her chest and gasped. "You mean you have other friends?!"

"No! Yes. No. You know what I mean."

"So, whatcha up to girl? Up for a little girl's night out?"

"No thanks, Risty. I'm gonna try to, uhh, talk to Pietro later on."

"Do you think you should? I mean…"

"Yeah, I know. It's just, Scott wanted to, but who knows what Pietro might do to him."

"Well, you even know where he lives?"

Rogue nodded, wondering if Scott even knew where the Brotherhood lived. Well, if Tabitha found them, it couldn't have been very hard.

"Great!" Risty smiled, closing her fingers around Rogues wrist as she drug her to her car. "Let's go out for a little pizza, then I'll come with you."

"I dunno, ah-"

"Come oooon! At least it'll give us something to do. Besides, he's not gonna attack a couple of _girls_ is he?"

"I guess not. And I could go for a little deep dish."

Risty gave Rogue a quick swat on the butt. "That's the spirit." Giggling the two girls ran off to Risty's green sedan, checking their pockets for spare change.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A/N: Sorry about that cliffhanger, I didn't actually have the time to write everything I had wanted.


	3. 

**__**

Chapter 3 - No Title Because I Can't Think Of One

__

This is insane.

I can't believe I'm actually going with Rogue to do this. Those boys gave me enough trouble when I associated them, and now it's going to penetrate their warped little minds that "Risty" doesn't mind talking with them. That miserable little Toad better not flirt with me again. What was I thinking?

Risty - or Mystique, in her normal identity - shifted her eyes from the road, to the pretty companion sitting next to her.

__

Oh yes, that's right. To be near Rogue. But still… to once again associate with those maniacs? I should be lucky they didn't drive me to kill myself. Or, better yet, one of them. Especially Tolensky. How in the world did that slimy little twit gain an infatuation for this newest identity? Perhaps I should have masqueraded as a male. No. Impractical, risking the chance she might develop a crush on me. Him. Whatever. This plan is insane. Have I stressed how important that fact is?

I should never have suggested Rogue that I join her tonight. But the inanity of sitting around and waiting for school to start, while doing my **homework**, is incredible. This is all young Maximoff's fault. If he didn't get into trouble with those moronic football players at the high school, none of this would have ever happened. He came so close to killing those young idiots earlier, and in front of the entire student body, no less. Lucky for him, I was there to pull him off before the incident was able to escalate into using his full mutant power. Although, the boy **has** shown more than adequate fighting ability - especially when outnumbered by his opponents - and restraint of his powers with a breach of temper, and loyalty to his teammates.

I wonder… would he ever have fought for me in the same way?

Hah! Why would you think that anyone would care to battle for you? Even Magnus forced you to fight against Storm in order to stand by his side. But Pietro is not his father, is he? They share many traits,, but no, he is - most decidedly - **not** his father.

He **is** a handsome young man, though, isn't he?

Why Raven, you little pervert. A little old for him, don't you think?

Not as Risty - SHUT UP!

Great, now I'm talking to myself.

"What'd you say Risty?"

__

Oops. Did I say that outloud? "Uh, I asked if we were getting close."

Rogue smiled, pointing towards The Brotherhood of Bayville Boarding House, "It's right up there."

**********

At the sound of a car pulling up to the house, Todd and Fred ran to the window, pulling the curtains aside to peek out at who could possibly be visiting the Brotherhood. "Who the hell would visit _us_ yo?" Todd turned to his friend as they both eyed the green car in their driveway.

"Well… there's Rogue right there." Fred thought for a second, raising his hand to stroke his chin. "So, she finally decides to come back and visit, probably try to talk to us again after all this time, huh? And **only** after Pietro beat the crap of those losers. _That's_ convenient_._"

"Yeah. A little **too** convenient."

"Hey, there's Risty."

"Yeah. A little **too** Risty." The two boys snickered at each other, and exchanged a high five.

However, Lance, Tabitha and Pietro sat on the couch and looked at their seemingly insane friends. They graced each other with a look, then turned back to Fred and Toad, shaking their heads.

__

A little **too** Risty! Hehehe. Pietro snickered, immediately covering his mouth when the other two turned their eyes on him.

Rogue stopped at the door, but hesitated just a moment before knocking. She couldn't be sure how the others would accept her, she did leave the team after all. But maybe if they knew her reasons for leaving, they might be able to understand her a little better.

"No thanks, we've already cancelled our subscription to _Gothic World_ magazine." Guess not.

Todd grinned at her, the Blob behind him to bar passage into the house.

"Look, you goons, I'm just here to talk to Pietro."

"Well, maybe, he don't want to talk to you! Maybe none of us do, traitor."

As he started to slam the door closed, Pietro held the door back. "Alright, alright. That's enough out of you two."

"But I didn't say anything," Fred protested.

"Just let them in. So, what brings ya here? Those geek throw you out for not being goody two shoes like them? Or did you dump them, too? I don't know if we have room for _another_ traitor, do we Lance?"

They all turned their heads back to the couch, where Lance was peeking behind a Road & Track magazine. "Uhh……. No?"

As everyone stepped inside, Fred shut the door behind them.

"So, why _are_ you here? Come for the tea party?"

Toad's head swiveled towards Tabby, "I thought we already had one?"

The Brotherhood members groaned. Todd hadn't seemed to grasp the concept of sarcasm.

Rogue stared at the young Freshman for a while, then shook her head. "I, uhh, wanted to talk to you about what happened at school."

"And Risty?"

"Why, I'm her ride, of course!"

"Why didn't you just bring Mr. Perfect along? He didn't wanna get his car dirty by driving in the bad part of town?"

"Well, he and Jean are probably waiting for Lance to stop by - uh, I mean. He didn't feel like it." Unconvinced, Lance sighed, slapping his hand against his forehead.

Fred butted in, "Ya still haven't told us what you really want from us."

She couldn't figure how to say it straight it. It wouldn't to just blurt out the obvious reason and have every laugh in her face. So…… "Well, after you guys left, the rest of us got into a big heated discussion about what might happen to all of you if someone decided to take legal action against you, right? Actually, Scott had this zany idea to try and manipulate you to join us at the mansion Pietro, in exchange for the professor helping making the whole incident go away. Besides, this house isn't really in the best shape, and Kitty said that you might **all** want to come live with us because you don' really have any money, instead of staying enemies, because nothing's really happened between us in a while." You know, her ramble started to seem **very** familiar. "We'd-all-like-to-know-if-you-want-to-come-join-us-at-the-mansion-instead-of-living-here."

Yes. Familiar indeed.

"What?! No way, yo!"

"Yeah! We ain't becoming X-Geeks, no way, no how. Even if we **don't** have enough money to pay for food." Fred waved his hand through the air.

"Or running water."

"Or a phone."

"Or heat."

"Yeah, but-"

"Hey. We don't need a rich, bald fruitcake telling us what to do, Or what not to do. Or a mean-"

"-bossy-"

"-lady yelling at you all the time." Risty frowned at how Fred and Todd spoke about her. Was she really that bad? She had only been giving them orders, just as Magneto had been giving to her. _Oh._ Well, in truth, Magneto wasn't the kindest of bosses. He did, after all, keep her from contacting her son. Not to mention altering his DNA when he was merely a baby.

Pietro jerked his thumb towards his more vocal friends. "Like they said. What could we possibly _need_ from Xavier? We've got our self-respect, loyalty and a caring family."

Risty raised her eyebrows as she took stock of the five members. One fast talking egomaniac. One slimy, annoying fro look-alike. A gigantic, human eating machine. The quintessential bad boy leader, who fawns over a ditzy girl even younger Todd Tolensky. And a flirtatious little brat/maniac with little concern for using her powers in public.

"Okay, okay. Well, at least we like each other. Can't same the same thing for everyone at the institute."

"He's got ya there, yo!"

"How did you…?" she left her question unspoken, narrowing her eyes at Lance, who had taken to hiding behind his magazine again. "Forget it."

"See. Told you we don't need the cue ball."

"How about the guys at school? If any of them try to sue you, you wouldn't even be able to afford a lawyer. If you come with us, Professor X could make this whole thing go away. Lance took a chance with us, even if it was for the wrong reasons, and Tabitha was there for a little while. So why don't you all give it a shot?"

"And join Professor Xavier's House of Freaks? There's no way that's gonna happen. Again. Will it, _Lance?_"

"Uhh….. I gotta go pick up Kitty." He quickly rushed for his keys. "Room for two more, anyone wanna come? Looks like we're gonna have some extra company tonight."

Everyone spent the next few moments looking away.

"C'mon! You don't want to leave me and Kitty alone in a car with Summers AND Miss Perfect, do you?"

They started whistling.

"I'll buy you ice cream." Fred, Todd and Tabitha made a dash for the door. Surprisingly, Tabitha was quickest, and was first to head towards the jeep. Unfortunately, it left Todd to battle against Fred for the remaining spot.

Fred grabbed his friend by the scruff of the neck, throwing him back against the couch before running to the car. He called behind him, "Sorry little buddy! But we're talking about ice cream here."

Risty crossed her arms as she scowled at the Jeep pulling out of the driveway. "I like ice cream."

**********

It wasn't pretty, but Todd and Pietro spent the next few minutes explaining why neither they, nor the rest of their friends, were going to join the X-Men. None of it held much merit, though, since most of the hardcore reasoning boiled down to _"We ain't becoming X-Geeks!"_ That, and the fact that they had rivals at the institute, and were positively sure they would never, ever, in a million years, get along with each other.

Mystique - or Risty, rather - found the whole situation quite amusing. And Pietro's playfulness with her wasn't exactly _unwelcome_. He seemed to take a flirtatious attitude with her, actually. And, in a lesser scale, with Rogue. It had occurred to her (and Rogue, as well), that the two boys had actually become better company around their presence. Which was odd, of course, since neither seemed to be very pleasant towards anyone at school.

"I've got an idea," Pietro spoke, as a naughty smirk played on his face.

"I hope it's getting something to eat, yo. I'm starved."

Pietro hit him with a pillow. "Not that. We should go spy on them."

"But Blob and-"

"Yeah, but that means _we_ miss out on it."

"You have a point."

"Get the camera, Toad!"

As Todd rushed off, Rogue leaned towards him. "What?"

"We're gonna follow Kitty and Lance on their date. It's not like it's _private_ anyways, everybody else is already tagging along."

"Ah'm not so sure about that, don't you have morals or anything?"

"Oh, don't worry about that. You two girls can come too."

"That's not what I meant-"

"Todd! Change your clothes, we need disguises. And you two…." Pietro glanced at Rogue and Risty, looking them both up and down. Then darted upstairs.

"What was that about?"

"Ah don't know. Probably just checking us out, then he went to….."

The two stared at each other, with the same thought running through their minds. "Eeeww!"

"That's so gross!"

"Why ah oughtta," Rogue pounded a fist into an open palm.

Todd hopped down, wearing a black jacket and a borrowed pair of khakis. His hair had also been brushed. And he carried a camera and a small camcorder. "Just in case," he shrugged.

Pietro soon came down, wearing a nice pair of black boots, black pants and a dark olive sweater. However, he also held a pair of dresses in his hands, as well as some pairs of shoes. "Put these on. You can go in Rogue's old room, she'll show you where it is."

Mystique could clearly see that the shoes used to belong to her, but the dresses didn't seem familiar at all. She was sure they weren't hers, and Rogue knew Tabby didn't have anything that even resembled a dress. Pietro had just mumbled something about "making costumes" and sent them upstairs, along with the message "and put on some lighter makeup".

The boy was pleased as the girls descended the stairs. Risty wore the pale blue dress and Rogue had been dressed in lavender. The two had re-applied their makeup, using much less, and in lighter tones, than they had been used to. Quite honestly, Pietro admitted he thought they looked prettier that way. Todd agreed, but was forced to keep his mouth shut, lest he end up battered for muttering how "hot" they were.

"Perfect. I'll drive." Pietro swiped Risty keys before anyone could complain; which they ought to have, since even Toad had a fairly horrified look on his face.

He turned around though, taking a moment to stare at Risty. "One thing though."

"What is it Pietro?" She nervously looked around, as Todd, then Rogue slipped out the door.

He placed his arms around Risty, softly drawing her to him. Pietro closed his eyes, sighing. "Thanks. For stopping me, before I killed someone." Risty felt the warm touch of his lips against her cheek, from a soft, genuine kiss. Not on the lips, but she couldn't help feeling how nice it was. Or stop herself from blushing.

Pietro gave a small tug on her hand as he drew her away to more pressing matters.

They had people to spy on.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Whatcha think? Anything I need to work on, or anything you'd like to see? Tell me if I did anything wrong, or whatever.

Oh, and just to fill my own curiosity: do you like any of the couples I've written, or what others write? (nothing with Kurt or Evan……… but you know what I mean)


End file.
